IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/mtl/montec/18-2018.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Mergers in Nonrenewable Resource Oligopolies and Environmental Policies

Author

Listed:
  • Hassan BENCHEKROUN
  • Michèle BRETON
  • Amrita RAY CHAUDHURI

Abstract

We examine the profitability of horizontal mergers within nonrenewable resource industries, which account for a large proportion of merger activities worldwide. Each firm owns a private stock of the resource and uses open loop strategies when choosing its extraction path. We analytically show that even a small merger (merger of 2 firms) is always profitable when the resource stock owned by each firm is small enough. In the case where pollution is generated by the industry’s activity, we show that an environmental policy that increases firms’ production cost or reduces the price received by firms can deter a merger. This speeds up the industry’s extraction and thereby causes emissions to occur earlier than under a laissez-faire scenario.

Suggested Citation

  • Hassan BENCHEKROUN & Michèle BRETON & Amrita RAY CHAUDHURI, 2018. "Mergers in Nonrenewable Resource Oligopolies and Environmental Policies," Cahiers de recherche 18-2018, Centre interuniversitaire de recherche en économie quantitative, CIREQ.
  • Handle: RePEc:mtl:montec:18-2018
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.cireqmontreal.com/wp-content/uploads/cahiers/18-2018-cah.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Farrell, Joseph & Shapiro, Carl, 1990. "Horizontal Mergers: An Equilibrium Analysis," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(1), pages 107-126, March.
    2. Benchekroun, Hassan & Gaudet, Gérard, 2015. "On the effects of mergers on equilibrium outcomes in a common property renewable asset oligopoly," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 209-223.
    3. Benchekroun, Hassan & Halsema, Alex & Withagen, Cees, 2009. "On nonrenewable resource oligopolies: The asymmetric case," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 33(11), pages 1867-1879, November.
    4. Stephen W. Salant & Sheldon Switzer & Robert J. Reynolds, 1983. "Losses From Horizontal Merger: The Effects of an Exogenous Change in Industry Structure on Cournot-Nash Equilibrium," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 98(2), pages 185-199.
    5. Michael Hoel, 1984. "Extraction of a Resource with a Substitute for Some of Its Uses," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 17(3), pages 593-602, August.
    6. Colombo, Luca & Labrecciosa, Paola, 2015. "On the Markovian efficiency of Bertrand and Cournot equilibria," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 332-358.
    7. Mukesh Eswaran & Tracy Lewis, 1985. "Exhaustible Resources and Alternative Equilibrium Concepts," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 18(3), pages 459-473, August.
    8. Andrade de Sá, Saraly & Daubanes, Julien, 2016. "Limit pricing and the (in)effectiveness of the carbon tax," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 28-39.
    9. Perry, Martin K & Porter, Robert H, 1985. "Oligopoly and the Incentive for Horizontal Merger," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(1), pages 219-227, March.
    10. Groot, Fons & Withagen, Cees & de Zeeuw, Aart, 2003. "Strong time-consistency in the cartel-versus-fringe model," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 287-306, November.
    11. Hans-Werner Sinn, 2008. "Public policies against global warming: a supply side approach," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 15(4), pages 360-394, August.
    12. Stephen W. Salant, 1982. "Imperfect Competition in the International Energy Market: A Computerized Nash-Cournot Model," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 30(2), pages 252-280, April.
    13. Mark Kagan & Frederick Ploeg & Cees Withagen, 2015. "Battle for Climate and Scarcity Rents: Beyond the Linear-Quadratic Case," Dynamic Games and Applications, Springer, vol. 5(4), pages 493-522, December.
    14. Groot, Fons & Withagen, Cees & de Zeeuw, Aart, 1992. "Note on the Open-Loop von Stackelberg Equilibrium in the Cartel versus Fringe Model," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 102(415), pages 1478-1484, November.
    15. Gaudet, Gerard & Long, Ngo Van, 1994. "On the effects of the distribution of initial endowments in a nonrenewable resource duopoly," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 18(6), pages 1189-1198, November.
    16. Hassan Benchekroun & Ngo Van Long, 2006. "The Curse Of Windfall Gains In A Non Renewable Resource Oligopoly," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(2), pages 99-105, June.
    17. Kamien, Morton I & Zang, Israel, 1993. "Monopolization by Sequential Acquisition," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 9(2), pages 205-229, October.
    18. Salant, Stephen W, 1976. "Exhaustible Resources and Industrial Structure: A Nash-Cournot Approach to the World Oil Market," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 84(5), pages 1079-1093, October.
    19. Salo, Seppo & Tahvonen, Olli, 2001. "Oligopoly equilibria in nonrenewable resource markets," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 671-702, May.
    20. Reinganum, Jennifer F & Stokey, Nancy L, 1985. "Oligopoly Extraction of a Common Property Natural Resource: The Importance of the Period of Commitment in Dynamic Games," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 26(1), pages 161-173, February.
    21. Hartwick, John M. & Brolley, Michael, 2008. "The quadratic oil extraction oligopoly," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 568-577, December.
    22. Gaudet, Gerard & Salant, Stephen W, 1991. "Increasing the Profits of a Subset of Firms in Oligopoly Models with Strategic Substitutes," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(3), pages 658-665, June.
    23. Stephen W. Salant, 1977. "Staving off the backstop: dynamic limit-pricing with a kinked demand curve," International Finance Discussion Papers 110, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    24. Morton I. Kamien & Israel Zang, 1990. "The Limits of Monopolization Through Acquisition," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 105(2), pages 465-499.
    25. Tracy R. Lewis & Richard Schmalensee, 1980. "On Oligopolistic Markets for Nonrenewable Natural Resources," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 95(3), pages 475-491.
    26. van der Meijden, Gerard & Ryszka, Karolina & Withagen, Cees, 2018. "Double limit pricing," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 153-167.
    27. Kamien, Morton I. & Zang, Israel, 1991. "Competitively cost advantageous mergers and monopolization," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 3(3), pages 323-338, August.
    28. Benchekroun, Hassan & Gaudet, Gerard, 2003. "On the profitability of production perturbations in a dynamic natural resource oligopoly," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 27(7), pages 1237-1252, May.
    29. Benchekroun, Hassan & Halsema, Alex & Withagen, Cees, 2010. "When additional resource stocks reduce welfare," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 109-114, January.
    30. Wan, Rui & Boyce, John R., 2014. "Non-renewable resource Stackelberg games," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 102-121.
    31. Ngo Van Long, 2015. "The Green Paradox in Open Economies: Lessons from Static and Dynamic Models," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 9(2), pages 266-284.
    32. Karp, Larry & Newbery, David M, 1991. "OPEC and the U.S. Oil Import Tariff," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 101(405), pages 303-313, March.
    33. Dockner,Engelbert J. & Jorgensen,Steffen & Long,Ngo Van & Sorger,Gerhard, 2000. "Differential Games in Economics and Management Science," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521637329.
    34. Hoel, Michael, 1978. "Resource extraction, substitute production, and monopoly," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 28-37, October.
    35. Stephen Polasky, 1996. "Exploration and Extraction in a Duopoly-Exhaustible Resource Market," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 29(2), pages 473-492, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Choi, Pak-Sing & Espinola-Arredondo, Ana & Munoz, Felix, 2020. "Mergers as an environmental ally: Socially excessive and insufficient merger approvals," Working Papers 2020-1, School of Economic Sciences, Washington State University.
    2. Choi, Pak-Sing & Espínola-Arredondo, Ana & Muñoz-García, Félix, 2022. "Environmental policy helping antitrust decisions: Socially excessive and insufficient merger approvals," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    3. Dai, Miao & Benchekroun, Hassan & Long, Ngo Van, 2022. "On the profitability of cross-ownership in Cournot nonrenewable resource oligopolies: Stock size matters," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    4. Kheiravar, Khaled H, 2019. "Economic and Econometric Analyses of the World Petroleum Industry, Energy Subsidies, and Air Pollution," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt3gj151w9, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ngo Long, 2011. "Dynamic Games in the Economics of Natural Resources: A Survey," Dynamic Games and Applications, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 115-148, March.
    2. Benchekroun, Hassan & Withagen, Cees, 2012. "On price taking behavior in a nonrenewable resource cartel–fringe game," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 76(2), pages 355-374.
    3. Benchekroun, Hassan & Withagen, Cees, 2012. "On price taking behavior in a nonrenewable resource cartel–fringe game," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 76(2), pages 355-374.
    4. Benchekroun, Hassan & van der Meijden, Gerard & Withagen, Cees, 2019. "An oligopoly-fringe non-renewable resource game in the presence of a renewable substitute," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 1-20.
    5. van der Meijden, Gerard & Ryszka, Karolina & Withagen, Cees, 2018. "Double limit pricing," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 153-167.
    6. Gerard Meijden & Cees Withagen & Hassan Benchekroun, 2022. "An Oligopoly-Fringe Model with HARA Preferences," Dynamic Games and Applications, Springer, vol. 12(3), pages 954-976, September.
    7. Okullo, Samuel J. & Reynès, Frédéric, 2016. "Imperfect cartelization in OPEC," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 333-344.
    8. Berk, Istemi, 2015. "Two-Period Resource Duopoly with Endogenous Intertemporal Capacity Constraints," EWI Working Papers 2014-13, Energiewirtschaftliches Institut an der Universitaet zu Koeln (EWI).
    9. Hassan Benchekroun & Gerard C. van der Meijden & Cees A. Withagen, 2017. "OPEC, Shale Oil, and Global Warming - On the Importance of the Order of Extraction," CESifo Working Paper Series 6746, CESifo.
    10. Benchekroun, Hassan & van der Meijden, Gerard & Withagen, Cees, 2020. "OPEC, unconventional oil and climate change - On the importance of the order of extraction," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    11. Dockner, Engelbert J. & Gaunersdorfer, Andrea, 2001. "On the profitability of horizontal mergers in industries with dynamic competition," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 195-216, August.
    12. Wan, Rui & Boyce, John R., 2014. "Non-renewable resource Stackelberg games," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 102-121.
    13. Colombo, Luca & Labrecciosa, Paola, 2019. "Stackelberg versus Cournot: A differential game approach," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 239-261.
    14. van der Meijden, Gerard & Withagen, Cees, 2019. "Limit pricing, climate policies, and imperfect substitution," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    15. Colombo, Luca & Labrecciosa, Paola, 2018. "Consumer surplus-enhancing cooperation in a natural resource oligopoly," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 185-193.
    16. Hart, Rob & Gars, Johan, 2022. "The black paradox," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    17. Boyce, John R. & Vojtassak, Lucia, 2008. "An 'oil'igopoly theory of exploration," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 428-454, August.
    18. Jaakkola, Niko, 2019. "Carbon taxation, OPEC and the end of oil," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 101-117.
    19. Benchekroun, Hassan & Halsema, Alex & Withagen, Cees, 2009. "On nonrenewable resource oligopolies: The asymmetric case," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 33(11), pages 1867-1879, November.
    20. Nilssen, Tore & Sorgard, Lars, 1998. "Sequential horizontal mergers," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(9), pages 1683-1702, November.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • Q39 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation - - - Other
    • L41 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Monopolization; Horizontal Anticompetitive Practices
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:mtl:montec:18-2018. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sharon BREWER (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cdmtlca.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.